Crappie fishermen in general need to take a step back and look at what the live bait industry is doing for and to crappie fishing. The answer the first question; the live bait industry does nothing to promote or support crappie fishing. We (crappie fishermen) are one of the last vestiges of fishermen that still use live bait. Bass and walleye fishermen have long abandon live bait in tournament fishing.
Artificial lures and soft plastics have become the staple in both sports. It’s why there’s so much money in bass and walleye fishing. The live bait companies don’t promote their products in the crappie fishing world simply because they think we can’t fish without it. They’re wrong, wrong, wrong.
I’ve followed the professional crappie circuits for many years. What I see is 99% of all tournament fishermen use live bait. The live bait industry puts zero dollars into the sport versus soft plastics and lure companies supporting every aspect of the sport. These huge minnow farms could and should help promote the crappie fishing sport. When I look at the sponsor list for the professional crappie circuits, there’s not a single minnow farm or supplier listed. That shows you one thing; the live bait industry cares absolutely nothing about the sport of crappie fishing. These minnow farms should be the biggest supports of forums like crappie.com.
It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, an industry that makes nearly 95% of its revenue from crappie fishermen and they’re not spending a single dime promoting the sport. In the business world we call that absolutely ludicrous.
Crappie fishermen need to wake up and let their voices be heard. We have the keys in our hands. If the live bait companies don’t care about promoting the sport that feeds them, then we need to show them we can do without their product.
In my opinion, it’s past time for live bait to be outlawed in tournament fishing. Tournament crappie fishing is a sport, there’s very little sport in putting a live minnow on a hook and enticing a crappie to bite it. It’s no different in shooting a deer eating out of a trough of corn. Dove hunting over a baited field is illegal; shooting a deer eating out of a trough is illegal to a certain extent. You must be a hundred yards or better away. We should use the same logic in competitive crappie fishing.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a free country. Nobody can dictate what you can use when you fish. I’m just saying in competitive fishing, the fish should have a chance. Using live bait is not fishing, it’s harvesting. If you’re fishing for food or running a guide service fine, using live bait in competition fishing takes the sporting chance away. If we consider competition fishing a sport, then we should treat it like a sport.
You couldn’t pay a bass fisherman to use live bait no matter what situation they’re fishing, even though some of the largest bass ever recorded was caught on shiners. The huge amount of money poured into the bass fishing comes from the lure and tackle industry. Until crappie fishermen wrap their minds around using artificial bait, the sport of crappie fishing will always play second fiddle to other fishing sports.
I see it coming; the State of Maine banned live bait in lakes that contain brook trout. They did that back in the 1960s. This policy prevented the spread of non-native fish and caused the brook trout to thrive. The UK banned live bait because it introduced alien species into their habitats which brings diseases and parasites. We’ve got to act quickly before the animal rights activists jump into the fight.
So what can we crappie fishermen do? We can call, write, email and lobby the live bait producers and ask them to do more to support the last group of fishermen that use their product. Professional crappie fishermen need to demand the pro circuits ban live bait. When we speak as one voice, I can promise you we will be heard. Bernard - Outdoor Writer
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